What's in a Name
by TrueAwesomeSauce
Summary: Inspired by both "Bones, " and Chris Pine's delight: Short pieces on the power of names. Yes, Spock and Uhura are still together. And how.
1. Chapter 1

What's in a Name _One_

He loves his name. This is a relatively recent development.

Prior to this, he hated his name. Avoiding it was a large part of his past.

Thomas, Terence, Todd, Trelawney, Terrell, Tremaine, Thornton;

Talbot, Throckmorton, Tully, Templeton, Timkins, Tellerthwaite.

Anything to not say his name.

Anything to not use the T.

Anything to not be _that_ Kirk.

Now, he is the only one who says it.

And though he is the only one to say it, he loves his name.

'Hailing frequencies open'?

Patch me through.

Oh, yes.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk…"


	2. Chapter 2

What's in a Name _Two_

The majority of his fellow crew members have second, even third names. Some have other 'names' given them by which they are identified.

Few of them are able to pronounce his full name.

Though often creative (and generally factually incorrect), many of the things that he is called are not names at all:

Hobgoblin

Overgrown elf

Bio-based ice-cube

Little green alien

Pointy-eared bastard

Walking mass of memory circuits ('logic' might be substituted for 'memory')

Green-blooded computer (or 'machine' or 'robot' or 'automaton' – This is a recurring theme.)

Emotionless freak

Cold-blooded son-of-a-bitch

'Half-breed' is accurate, if unsophisticated.

He understands: Derogatory epithets are used as a way to improve one's perceived self-worth in the face of the strange or frightening. However, the use of an epithet is, he believes, antithetical. Does not the user then feel yet more uncomfortable in the presence of the one so labeled?

There are additional references made to his cultural norms, his anatomy and appearance - and alleged resemblance to mythological persons or creatures - but these, frequently used as descriptors, hardly qualify as 'nicknames.'

The fact that many of these are used preceding the word 'fucker' has given him pause. On consideration, he recognizes that, as long as the qualifiers are not actually of the type generally affixed, these can be counted among the more accurate of the insults applied: He is neither illegitimate nor a son of a bitch (in any of that word's most common senses). But he does, in fact, 'fuck.'

Such activities are generally mutually pleasurable, even satisfying. He has not heard any complaints. Therefore, as an insult, this does seem especially illogical.

He possesses titles and designations:

First Officer

Chief Science Officer (various permutations are applicable)

Commander

Mister

'Sir'

He finds that humans prefer to apply such designations as infrequently as possible. In addition, they will generally use the least formal one suited to the occasion. Job descriptions might sometimes be substituted.

There is one person who calls him by endearments:

She will say 'Sweetie' - in a dreamy tone, when her mood is soft; or, sometimes, smilingly as she teases him.

It is 'Babe' if she is feeling playful (and wishes to discomfit him slightly).

'K'diwa' is used much less often - when their discussion is serious, and she wishes him to know that she is listening with both head and heart. It pleases him that she uses it in this way.

The rare 'Ashayam': 'Beloved': So formal when she says it, as though she cherishes him.

But she prefers to use his name.

On duty, she will add a title, and say it with respect.

Off-duty, in public locations, she uses 'Mister' conversationally - but 'Commander' if there is a secondary message hidden in what she says.

Behind closed doors, however, she says only the name.

He knows she loves to say it.

They are capable of having entire conversations wherein she will preface each question or assertion with his name.

There are situations when his name is the only thing she says.

She loves his name. She loves the way it feels in her mouth.


	3. Chapter 3

What's in a Name _Three_

She knows: He knows how she feels about his name.

She loves the way it feels in her mouth.

Sibilant fricative

Pop-like plosive

Open vowel almost a sigh

Concluding plosive

- a Consonant nearly voiced twice

She never tires of feeling it – saying it.

She will say it, and he will respond – with stillness, with movement; with silence, with words.

If she shouts it, he will tense – alert, prepared.

If she says it in a crowded room, his head will turn, his eyes meet hers.

She knows she can whisper it once, in the dark - he will hear and reach for her.

She can say it as a murmur and imagine it reaching his ear…

… as a gasp, and he will still.

She moans it, and his breath grows ragged…

… a groan, and his lips will part.

His name is powerful: A prayer, an incantation, a demand.

He knows how she feels about his name.

She loves the way it feels filling her mouth - like him: Alien and beautiful.

When he speaks her name, it is a caress.

When she says his?

Well.

It may be oral. It may be interpersonal.

But it's still self-gratification.

Oh, yes: He knows she loves his name.


	4. Chapter 4

What's in a Name - 4

Everyone, he has noticed, who says her name - not just as a word, mind, but as a real name - says it just a little differently.

Uhura says the name with joy, every single time. There is something about the combination – honeyed voice, and joy - that makes it nearly impossible not to smile when she calls, or answers. Even under the worst circumstances, Uhura makes it sound like 'heaven".

Bones says it just a little reluctantly. He knows she keeps them safe (when Bones calls out to her, it is clear she is his only hope of rescue); but Jim thinks that, maybe, sometimes, he wishes he were saying something different.

The First Officer formally gives her her title, as well, when he refers to her. If he is communicating with her, however, he just says her name. It surprised Jim, the first time he heard that – and the first time Spock said 'she.' It was enough to make him look at the Vulcan with wondering eyes.

Sulu says it with pride.

From Chekov, there is a combination of matter-of-fact ('yes, I belong with her, naturally'), and surprise ('if you can believe that'). This makes Jim smile, too.

Most all of them make him smile. The way they say her name, each one of them, seems to fit, more and more, the longer he serves with them.

Everyone knows what Scott truly loves – He is an engineer, after all. He talks to the ship's engines as a proud father to his children – precocious offspring naughty, sometimes, but loved.

But when he says _her_ name? Scotty is both reverent and self-mocking when he speaks her name.

(That's not simply the tone, Jim thinks, of a Victorian father to the mother of his children…)

It takes some pondering and some Scotch, and then Jim gets it: Montgomery Scott is a knight - She is his unattainable, pure Lady. She does not belong to him, but to another. As a courtly lover (albeit an uneasy one), he will protect and adore her: His inviolable charge kept for the one who rightly commands her.

For Jim, the captain - Captain James T. Kirk - she is his everything. But in the deepest nights he lies awake: He believes he has not earned her, knows he does not deserve her. (That is his one secret she keeps.) She is his mistress and his muse – requiring, taking, demanding - claiming sacrifices he can ill-afford, and mourns. She grants him her favors and allows him proud pleasure, but he can never satisfy her, nor in his turn be satisfied. She is his, but more than that, he is hers. It still gives him a thrill to declare her his, to link his name with hers, to say that he is 'of the … _Enterprise.'_


	5. Chapter 5

There were some things he liked to be called. And some he hated. And some that were just too hard to fight.

Leonard. That was nice. Uhura called him Leonard, sometimes, and it sounded like maple syrup. Maybe felt like it, too – all warm and brown and sweet - when he was done, done.

Len. That was mostly him, actually. He'd say "tell old Uncle Len" to the ones who were trying to be brave. And if they did, they could cry on his shoulder.

McCoy. Well, there was "McCoy", and there was "McCoy" if you know what I mean. That there was a love it or hate it proposition. Enough said about that. But McCoys were tough. They knew how to work. And he was a McCoy, through and through. It might not be fancy – plain as an old boot, in fact. But McCoy fit, too – like an old boot broken in. Yep. Leonard H. McCoy.

Doctor? He had worked hard for "Doctor." And he deserved it. He did. But there were times when someone said "Doctor?" and God help him, he'd look around. Because right then, he needed an all-knowing man who might have a fucking clue.

Chief Surgeon was rough. Ah, rough. But give him a broken man, and that surgeon knew what to do.

Chief Medical Officer? "Chief Medical Officers" worked on starships. Did you know that? Fuck, don't get me started.

Nicknames? Oh, he'd had plenty. And some he'd just as soon forget.

Like 'Sweetheart.' Love and pain, happiness and heartbreak, in that one word - Like 'Daddy.'

'Plum'? Please.

And then there's 'Bones'. Dear Lord, if he could just takes those fateful words back, he would. Well, mostly.

There was only one man who called him that to his face – and Jim was unstoppable. Relentless, in fact. So fucking cheerful that it was contagious: The others might not say it, but there were times he could tell that that was what they were thinking. "Oh, Bones'll know," "Yeah, forget it, that's just Bones…" "Good ole Bones."

Goddamn it - He even thought it himself.


End file.
